Calif. Democrats Seek To Counter Outside Spending
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Trying to maintain their grip on newly won congressional seats, California Democrats are seeking to counter the corporate money pouring in from other states by expanding the party's base of small donors and looking for more outside financing.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told Democratic delegates Saturday during the party's annual convention that corporate spending has played an outsized role in campaigns since the Supreme Court lifted contribution limits for corporations.
Spending by super PACs and other outside groups on California House races topped $54 million last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That total surpassed the outside spending in all other states.
Pelosi, who wants Democrats to reclaim the House majority next year, told reporters later that Democrats need to find more outside money to support their candidates. But she said the party can't match what's being spent on Republicans.
"We'll have to have our share of outside money to counter what they are doing," she said Saturday. "We'll never have what they have because what they have is endless, an endless spigot."
A spokesman for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker John Boehner that supports GOP candidates, said it's hypocritical of Pelosi to bemoan super PAC spending when House Democrats also have ties to outside groups.
"House Republicans are the last line of defense against unfettered Democratic control," super PAC spokesman Dan Conston said in an emailed statement. "We were proud to play such a big role in defending the U.S. House in 2012, and you bet we'll be ready again to fight back against the Obama and unions' outside machines."
After addressing the crowd of 2,000 activists, Pelosi headlined a luncheon with five House freshmen who defeated Republicans in November.
Four are on a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee list released last month of vulnerable incumbents who will receive extra fundraising and other assistance.
One tool Democrats are promoting for the increasingly high-dollar contests is the small-donor program they began in 2010. The program, called Dem2014, asks party members to make a small donation each month.
An ad in the Democratic delegate packets asked, "What feels better than ousting a wacko incumbent Republican? Knowing you helped."
Close to 2,000 participated in last cycle's small-donor effort, party spokesman Tenoch Flores said. Democrats are seeking to expand that program leading into next year's races.
Party Chairman John Burton acknowledged the fundraising challenges for Democrats, despite their majority status in the state.
He cited the significant spending by billionaires Charles and David Koch in support of Republican candidates and causes, saying the Kansas brothers view spending millions of dollars as "chump change."
A nonprofit whose president is a political operative for the brothers was one of the groups behind a secretive $11 million donation last fall that sought to defeat Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30.
"We can never match them dollar-for-dollar, but we've got to match them person-to-person and we will be counting on you and all of us to do that," Burton said.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
